User:10000BL/Eat Drink Man Woman

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) - Ang Lee

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

Title: Eat Drink Man Woman
Year: 1994
Director: Ang Lee

Trailer: Eat Drink Man Woman
Opening Scene

Annotation:

The movie is about a family consisting of 1 father and his 3 daughters (the mother died when the daughters were very young and is not a character in the movie, yet it is a topic of discussion in the movie). Central topics in the movie are food and (the search for) love.

The father is a renowned masterchef but is loosing his sense of taste and is thinking of retiring. The daughters for example notice that the taste of the complicated and deliciously looking dishes is lacking and they are occasionally trying to say that during the sunday dinner's. Father is not open for there comments. The daughters on the other hand struggle in their personal with the seeking of a boyfriend/husband. The oldest daughter, who is a teacher at a high school, became a Cristian, after later as it seems a imaginary love affair in her younger years. She is a devoted Cristian and acts (in words and clothing) as if this is her only love. The second daughter is a highly successful associate in an airline company and about to be assigned to a high postion abroad (in Amsterdam). The youngest daughter is working in a local fast food restaurant and is helping out a colleague with taking over shifts and passing on messages to a boy she is seeing.

Throughout the movie we see the father loosing his sense of taste, yet not the techniques of cooking. His sense of taste is noticed by his daughters and maybe also affected his colleague and the restaurant because he got hospitalized after a meal the father cooked. We also see that his health is lacking (problems with the hearth) and this is noticed by the second daughter. Despite that we see a cheerful and caring father (and surrogate grandfather) that slowly falls in love with a younger woman, who has a little daughter (surrogate grandfather).

Each daughter is struggling in there personal life. What combines them is the lack of a boyfriend/husband. Somehow they take the role of a good friend instead of a potential girlfriend. But slowly things change and the oldest and youngest daughter find in a funny way a husband and boyfriend. This also affects the structure of the family, because after getting married (first daughter) and getting pregnant (youngest daughter), they both move out of the house (this is also a common thing in Chinese culture---?). The second daughter is not so successful in finding a partner, also because she is haunted by the thought that the guy she is dating used to be the boyfriend of her sister. This makes her being careful with this person. In the movie it is also shown that she has an affair with an art dealer. However the fact that she got a job offer in Amsterdam, the worsened health of her father makes her decide not to go for her career but to stay with her father.

what brings them together is the food, way of talking--> round table, announcements, standing up, communication--> filling in the gaps

Welke film is dit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65cZWLMFjno

Film starts with a five minute long scene showing different kind of cooking techniques; cleaning fish, cutting vegetables, vis filleren, paneren, frying, cutting techniques, chef, hands, cooking, steaming, washing the vegetables, transfer of food to other bowl, selecting the chicken, wokken, dressing, a lot knives, making of dumplings: preparing for sunday dinner (1-5 min.).
3 daughters all with different backgrounds/interests.

Chu Jia-Jen, chem. teacher, Christian, falls in love with gym teacher.
Chu Jia-Chien, high rank in Airline company, passion for food like her father, never got the change to pursue her passion.
Chu Jia-Ning, college student that works for fastfood restaurant, falls in love with college friend.

The blow up of duck (7 min.) & taking out of burned duck out of oven (11 min.).
Stir frying vegetables (9 min.).
Sunday dinner, pray for food, approx. 10 dishes, all very good and tasty looking. Conversation about the food that the ham is overcooked, father is annoyed by it and says it is perfect, daughters accuse or are aware of losing taste of father. 1st announcement: 2nd daughter announces she will move out because she took an option an a newly build apartment. Suddenly phone rings, there are problems in the former restaurant of Chu and he is asked to help out. He leaves the dinner urging the daughters to continue eating and not to forget to get the dumplings out. Dinner is over (11-14 min.).
Chu arrives at restaurant which is immense. He is being called the big boss/master chef. They tell him the menu and in between you see scenes of big pans with food being prepared. There is a problem with the fins of the shark, they are fake. Chu comes with a solution to change the menu (15 min.).
The daughters put the huge amount of food in bowls to preserve. They talk about relationships and that it would be good for there father to get a new girlfriend of his age (16 min.).
Big shot of restaurant, hundreds of people are eating, Chu seems to have saved the dinner (18 min.).
The daughers give dumplings to Liang Jin-Rong and her little daughter Shan Shan (20 min.).
Trow out of dumplings that are left over, it looks like the dinner was in the end not a success. Chu and old friend Wen drink together and have small talk (21 min.).
"Eat Drink Man Woman. Food and Sex. Basic human desires. Can't avoid them!" (quote: 24 min.).
Chu sees Shan-shan at the bus stop. She is eating his dumplings from yesterday. Chu asks whats she have for lunch, when Shan-Shan shows him money. Chu in mind thinks of making lunch for her everyday (26 min.).
Cooking lunch for Shan-Shan: spare ribs, crab with vegetables, shrimp with green peas, bean sprouts and sliced chicken, bitter melon soup. "I didn't want to make to much" (quote 33 min.).
Chu Jia-Ning eat with the 'boyfriend' of a collegeau at a small eatery outside. He is sad because he feels not be appreciated by Chu Jia-Ning' collegeau. He feels rejected. The eat o.a. stinky tofu (does this mean something? 35 min.).
Agreement between Shan-Shan and Chu that Chu makes everyday lunch for her. Lunch of Shan-shan goes to Chu (39 min.).
Cooking by Chu Jia-Chien for 'boyfriend'. Tofu very nicely cut and turned into dish 'Tsu-An-Tofu', also Carp with garlic sauce, Duck oil sauteed Pea sprout. Cooking learned from uncle Wen(?), Quote: "I love cooking elaborate dishes. I wish I could do it at home. One duck, two dishes, with different flavour. Hot and cold. A perfect balance. It's ancient philosophy. Food balanced with energy, flavour and nature." Chu Jia-Chien loves cooking and it looks like she is missing doing it, she wants to do it more often. Remembers how it was in the past and how he involves her in cooking and also that he made food in the form of jewelry for her (41-43 min.).
Cooking of Chu and Wen in restaurant. Chu lets Wen taste his dish. It looks like he doesn't like it however it can also be a disease because he faints. He is transferred to the hospital. In hospital he talks with Chu Jia-Chien and about her future not to choose to be a chef and that Chu is actually super proud on her (44 min.).
Sunday dinner: killing of fish? Chu is doubting. No athmosphere, to pass on food to each other. Taste is lacking again. Visueel food is super nice. 2nd anouncement: again Chu Jia-Chien: It seems like she wants to talk about Chu's health whom see seas in hospital at the cardivasculair afdeling. Also a topic could be her (possible) movement to Amsterdam since she got this new business proposal. Yet Chu takes over saying he saw in the newspaper that there was fraud with her house. After that Jin Rong, Shan-shan and mother comes to visit (59-1.02 min.).
Shan-Shan gets her new lunch from Chu and gives him the lunch from Jin Rong, her mother. Not nice the food (1.09 min.).
Sunday dinner:
Chu Jia-Jen is annoyed by the karaoke from the neighbours. Quote: "We communicate by eating, they by karaoke." youngest sister Chu Jia-Ning has anouncement. She is being asked if she fails school? But she says I met a boy, I love him, he has a big house and he asked me to move in with him. But the bigest anouncement is that she is pregnant from him. They say goodbye outside and she leaves by taxi (114-116 min.).
The 2 other sisters do the dishes, they talk about love, lack of love, ex-boyfriends, death of mother, miss comunication, and how much they know from each other (116 min.).
take out of cigs in food by Mrs. Liang. She keeps talking, Chu dislikes smoking (119 min.).
Clapping in kitchen of restaurant. Uncle Wen comes back. A lot of food is seen on the counter. Wen takes a seat on a stool and it looks like he falls asleep, yet in the end he dies. He dies in his own kitchen (124 min.).
Scene in temple, worshipping Wen, on the table you see fruit for the deceased people (125 min.).
Chu Jia-Chien think in the kitchen what to do with her live: chef or business? (127 min.).
Tea drinking with gallery owner Raymond with whom Chu Jia-Chien has a sort of open relationship. He anounces that he is with a girl and that he is going to live with her. Yet he still offers her to have benefits in the back of the gallery. Chu Jia-Chien doesn't like it but keeps her emotions inside and goes away (132 min.).
Worker from restaurant begs Chu to come back to the restaurant now Wen deceased. Quotes: "People die for money, birds for food. People today don't appreciate the exquisite art of cooking. After 40 years of Chinese food in Taiwan, the art is lost. Food from everywhere merges like rivers running into the sea. Everything tastes the same! Even slop can pass for Joy Luck Dragon Phoenix!" (134-136 min.).
Conversation Mrs. Liang and her daughter Jin-Rong about (re)mariage while eating fruits. Mrs. Liang things she would be a good match with Chu (136 min.).
Sunday dinner: Many dishes again, father hits a 'birds nest'. He is interrupted by anouncement oldest daughter, she is suddenly married with gym teacher and brings him in. They leave on motorcycle. 2nd daughter and father are left behind (verbouwereert) (137 min.).
Tea ceremony between collegeau Li Kai and Chu Jia-Chien. They talk about their career, friendship, afwijzen promotie. She tells him that she wants to stay with her father for now. He needs her. They decide to stay friends and nothing more (143-150 min.).
Sunday dinner: Father cooks a lot again, but hings go wrong, he drops things and make miss cuts (watermelon). Everybody is there and well dressed, and also the husbands are there, Mrs. Liang, Liang Jin-Rong and Shan-shan. Chu drinks a lot and asks daughters to drink with him. A lot of colorful dishes. Chu stands up and wants to announce something. Long story about cooking and food and taste and their metaphor for live. Finally he ask Mrs. Liang if he could marry her daughter Liang Jin-Rong. Mrs. Liang faints, drama. Chu Jia-Chien is left alone and sad behind in the house, everybody else goes out (146-153 min.).
Scene in fresh new kitchen, it is in A'dam and it seems that Chu Jia-Chien actually has taken the job opportunity. She cooks complicated dishes (154 min.).
Chu has a new house and his new wife Liang Jin-Rong is pregnant. He visits his old house which is sold and bought by Chu Jia-Chien. He hesitates to open the door but rings the bell. Chu Jia-Chien cooks for her father. House is verbouwd. She cooks complicated dishes and she serves her father soup. Father tastes and looks worried. He says there is to much ginger in the soup. The have a little argument about it. Then Chu realises that he can taste again. He asks for more soup and then he says emotionally 'Daughter'. Chu Jia-Chien says 'father' and movie ends (156 min.).